The Second Information Universe Conference

February 26th, 2018

From 3 - 6 July the University of Groningen is organizing the Second Information Universe Conference.

The key topic of the IU conference series is: “What is the role of information in the Universe and its description?”. In an epoch where scientists need to handle Big Data and simulations, find highly organized systems in nature and grapple with the role of information in physics and other sciences, this appears to be one of the more fundamental questions that needs to be answered in order to understand the world around us. The Information Universe conference intends to unite various approaches, addressing the fundamental role of information both in nature (“in vivo”) and in data analysis, theory and computer modelling (“in vitro”).

The conference will approach the key role of information from the point of view of several disciplines: e.g. cosmology, physics, mathematics, life sciences, computer science (including quantum computing) and neuroscience. The deeper role of information is formulated in different ways by these various disciplines, leading to a multitude of fundamental questions such as:

Is there a deeper physical description of space-time based on information?

Information and the Theory of EverythingKeynote speaker: Thanu Padmanabhan

In addition there will be (at least) one public evening, and a panel discussion at the end of the conference.

The conference will be held in the 260 seater planetarium theatre in Groningen, which provides an immersive 3D full dome display. This enables speakers to show unique and inspiring visuals, e.g. numerical simulations of the formation of our Universe, the brain in 3D, and anything else that springs from the imagination of the presenters.